Career fair offers jobs, internships

The GW Career Center hosted 60 organizations offering employment and internships at the semester’s first career fair Wednesday in the Marvin Center.

“The fair is geared toward mostly non-technical jobs,” said Jeanette Rousseau, employer relations coordinator. “This is one mechanism for finding jobs and I do know that students get jobs through a fair like this.”

Representatives from civil service organizations such as the CIA, the Secret Service and the FBI attended the fair as well as police departments and securities brokerage firms.

“Every year we find one student from a school to serve as an intern,” said Warren A. Negri Jr., from the Washington Area Northwestern Mutual Life and Baird Securities Company. “We usually get 30 applicants.”

Alumna Alisa Cheslar, who graduated last year, attended the career fair last year and applied to work for the Secret Service. After being hired, she returned to GW to recruit more student applicants.

Cheslar said the process is competitive, and the Secret Service and other organizations use career fairs, the Internet and word of mouth to “spread the word.”

The fair also hosted a variety of police departments from the East Coast.

“(The fairs) are good, specifically for those interested in police work,” said Officer Brian Walker, from the Montgomery County Police Department.

But the fair also attracted students who were looking for internships and future employment opportunities.

“I am looking for a summer internship so I can stay in D.C.,” said Jamie Samanns, a sophomore in the Elliott School of International Affairs.

After visiting the Career Center, she said she prepared her r?sum? and attended the fair hoping to find summer employment possibilities.

Oliver Tunda, who graduated from GW last December, attended the fair to search for jobs in international affairs.

“I think that it’s been helpful,” said Tunda, who said his Sudanese citizenship has made his search more difficult because of the U.S. citizenship requirement of many organizations. “They have directed me on some employment opportunities.”

While some students found prospects for employment, others were not as successful.

“It was okay; it could have been better,” said junior Chris Hart, who said he wanted to find more information on consulting, law and investment firms. “There was not a very broad spectrum.”